This is the follow-up to Profanum's "Under A Black Wing's of Emperor" demo, a release that heavily impressed me because of it's chilling if not simply scary feel. Profanum have a fine grasp of what black metal should sound like, and utilize their synths and vocals in such a fashion that the music ends up sounding very spooky. Musically, the trio are slow to mid-paced, and use clean guitars and heavy synths to add some spice to the music. And speaking of synths, they're utilized in a fashion similar to some of Burzum's later work...slow paced, eerie, and very smooth sounding. The guitars and drum are simple yet professional sounding, again the band know what they're doing. Vocals are also well done, throat ripping rasps that are above average, and again, very professional sounding. I'm also fond of the packaging, simple, dark, and fit's the mood of the disc. Sadly (I doubt you thought this was coming) the disc ends up disappointing. The trio have such an epic and powerful sound that I *know* the next album from then will be *amazing* (one unreleased track I've heard, "The Serpent Crown" is great). Perhaps a bit more practicing, song development, and so on, and the underground black metal community will be treated to a new and amazing treat. Until then, Profanum are still an excellent band, and I *highly* recommend them, but this disc could be so much better with a tad more polishing.

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